Mustang Adoption Questions

Looking for help answering some Mustang adoptions questions.

Firstly I am a Canadian living in lovely Alberta and am looking to move a fair amount of Mustangs up over the border. ( a couple at a time for sure) I was wondering if there were any other Canucks on the forum that have done just this and what kind of troubles they had.

Secondly, I would like some feedback from anyone who has adopted Mustangs and your opinions, complaints, comments, recommendations and would appreciate success stories as well.

Thirdly, Any Mustang owner regardless of adoption or not I would love to hear from you too. I have worked mostly with Quarter Horses, Appaloosa's and Canadians and my own little Palomino Mutt.

My dear friend and I are slowly building our ranch called Bandidas. I have always been drawn to Mustangs and am looking to buy two at least Fall of 2010. So any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

Interesting project. I'd love to know more about your ranch and the ultimate goal.

Are you actually going to the adoptions or doing the internet adoption? Ive never seen anything about adopting out of country. I would love to know how that goes.
Its to bad your not adopting now. There is a gorgeous grulla weanling gelding with leg stripes on the online adoption!

I know a horse rescue that has a slew of Mustangs here WV for adoption - all young horses. I know a lot of rescue places that adopt them out are very choosy about who they let them go to because the seem to be so high strung and hard to train.

I have to disagree about them being high strung and hard to train. I think they are one of the easier horses to train. They aren't spoiled pasture pets.

As far as adopting them across the border, I think your best bet would probably be to contact the BLM Wild Horse and Burro department.

I can help you as far as trainability and such though.

I currently have 2 mustangs that I bought from adopters because they were too "wild" and the people were scared of them. Dobe was a 3 year old stud when I brought him home and had never been touched except to be branded and given his first round of shots. I was riding him on the second day and on the 5th day, I was using him on cattle. He never offered to buck and has made one hell of a nice horse. I think he is absolutely gorgeous even though his confo is a little iffy. I have been using him to work cattle for about 4 years and have roped and drug calves for branding during the last 2 springs. He was really spooky when I first started riding him but now he is my 'ride in the dark bareback with a halter' horse.


Koda had been handled a bit as a yearling by his adopter so he was not scared of people the way that Dobe was but he had not been taught anything. He would not lead, tie, pick up his feet, or anything that a semi-trained horse should do. He was a 4 year old when I brought him home and I didn't have time to work with him so I turned him out until he was 5. Last fall, I decided that it was time to use him so I caught him up. Within about 2 hours, I was riding him and he never offered to buck or anything. On the 3rd ride, I was using him through cattle and have been riding him sporadically over the last year. He is a nice horse but I just don't feel a connection with him so I am probably going to take him to a sale next spring (guaranteed no kill buyers).

This was me warming him up in the roundpen before I took him to the cattle on his 3rd ride.


And crappy as it is, here is a current pic of him.


I absolutely adore mustangs and I am with Iride, I would love to hear what your future plans are with the number you are looking to bring across the border.

I have not owned any, I admit, but I just know the locally in WV, Ky and Ohio - when rescues get them, they always only allow adoptions to experienced horsemen who have prior Mustang experience only.

If you adopt in the US you usually have to meet a few requirements, or say you will. You have to have 5 foot fencing i believe, it cant be rope, you need a stock trailer to pick them up in, i dont think you can stall them at first. most horses who travel across state boarders in the USA need coggins test (pretty sure.) You have to talk to BLM and possibly someone in Canada about coming into the country with animals.

I figured that the requirements would be known. But for weanlings and handled horses its 5' fence or 6' for yearlings + no barbed wire. It has to be a certain size cant be too small or too big. You have to have an open stock trailer. They will not allow you to take the horse with a slant, a ramp, or a two horse with a divider.
On leaving the country to Canada you have to have an interstate coggins test by a designated vet.

I live in PA and there is a trainer very close to where I live that deals with Mustangs. She actually won the 2008 Mustang Makeover with a mustang named Jazz.
She is involved with the Mustang incentive program , to my knowledge trainers get mustangs in , gentle them and put at least 30 days training on them and then they adopt them out to qualified people at the adoption fee posted by the BLM.
I don't know all the ins and outs of the program but it may be worth checking into something like that.
I own a Mustang , he isnt from the range though...